Abstract

In the lives of girls and women, there is that adolescence stage marked by the onset of
menstruation, onwards until menopause. Reproductive health and menstrual hygiene are
important aspects of their lives yet information, knowledge, and practices of menstrual
hygiene (MH) among school girls are inadequate with increasing challenges. This study
assessed factors affecting menstrual hygiene among school girls aged (14-25) attending
Outpatient Department at Kampala International University Teaching Hospital (OPD KIU-TH)
in Bushenyi District. A descriptive cross-sectional study was used to reveal the knowledge,
practices, and challenges faced in managing menstrual hygiene among schoolgirls. The study
revealed; a lack of awareness and knowledge whereby only (45%) had information on
menstrual hygiene. Low practices of managing menstrual hygiene of which 40% used pads,
90% of which used reusable pads and 30% used highly traditional materials as pads.
Inadequate facilities and resources were among the great challenges affecting MH. The study
found that there was a lack of awareness and knowledge concerning menstrual hygiene
among school girls aged (14-25) years attending OPD-KIUTH with the highest peak among the
young school girls. Further, it revealed low hygienic practices of managing menstrual hygiene
among school girls because most girls who used pads used reusable pads, and if not stored
well resulted in infections. The high existence of lack of facilities and sanitary pads among
schoolgirls to manage their menstruation hygienically was because of resource limitations.
There is a lack of knowledge, low practices, and inadequate facilities to manage menstrual
hygiene among schoolgirls, and therefore stakeholders with full authority should intervene
in such problems